This is just Matt Moore being a big Memphis homer and over thinking the Randolph/Griffin beef. Clippers would sweep Memphis.
This is an interesting question. Taking a look at the Clippers current situation, they have CP3, JJ, DJ and Blake for another year. They have the 2nd highest payroll in the NBA and next year already have 82 mil accounted for BEFORE trying to presumably resign Crawford, Jeff Green, Mbah a Moute. So maybe you bring back 2 of those 3. Crawford is 36 but is still the best 6th man in the league. The problem with the Clippers is the problem that a lot of GMs will probably have once the cap and that is the problem of trying to buy a team without having a core surrounding it. The Clippers problem is not talent. Their talent was good enough to beat the Spurs in a 7 game series last year which is something that cannot be understated. That talent was also good enough to race out to an early lead in the semis against the Rockets. That team looked on the verge, but what happened? They completely ran out of gas. This is the problem with trying to buy a team, you commit your money to the stars and forget about the depth. That team was depending on Austin Rivers to carry it far too often last year and he is not that type of a player. I don't think the Blazers beating the Clippers in the first round would break that team. This will still be a transitional period for that team figuring out how to get CP3, Blake and DJ to work together offensively. Again, when it was working last year, they were good enough to beat the Spurs in 7. I just don't know if they'll have enough time this year to figure it out. If they lose early, I would expect Doc to take a good, hard look at his bench and particularly at Jamal Crawford. Is it worth it to give that guy 5-8 million, or should we invest in a quality backup PG? That is the Cippers' problem, it is not talent, but it is that their depth is so dependent on Crawford scoring that it completely takes away from what the other rotation guys can do and focuses solely on Crawford. I would keep the core together, sign Crawford for a lower price if you can and completely invest in a quality backup PG that can run the second team effectively and make everyone around him better.
We'll see, if we win. However, I suspect that if they lose in the first round, they'll be looking for a Paul for Kyrie trade - which the Cavs would desperately love.
If I were the Clippers I'd be looking to swap Griffin for Love this off season. IMO it makes logic both ways. The Clippers go as far as CP3 takes them. The offense is far better with the ball in CP3's hands than it is Griffins. Love is still a stretch four that wouldn't bog down the offense nor would he require the ball in his hands like Griffin does. With a legit Center to play with like DJ, Love could go back to doing what he did in Minn with Pek as the legit center and Rubio getting him the ball. Love could then do what he does best. Catch and shoot. For the Cavs it would give them another option in Griffin to take some pressure off of LBJ during the regular season. Which can't be understated enough. The more pressure you can take off LBJ the more energy the guy will have for the "big" games. It would also speed up the Cavs which would make them more dangerous. Griffin also has the size to play the five at times, unlike Love. It would allow Thompson or LBJ to play the four. Griffin & Love both have injury concerns and seem to be mental midgets. I personally think it's a trade that makes both teams better.
My hope is that Cleveland totally whiffs in the playoffs so Olshey can maybe snipe some cheap castoffs. That would be a great way to get maybe get a lot for a little.
Who does Cleveland have thats "cheap"? Love and Kryie are on max contracts. Tristian Thompson makes $90 million. Shumpert makes $40 million. That team is in salary cap hell.
Great idea; that makes a ton of sense for both teams. If I'm Cleveland I'd be a bit concerned about Griffin walking for nothing as a free agent in 2017. But I agree he's a much better fit. He could be a Draymond style 5 in a lineup of death for many teams out there. But DeAndre is a hell of an effective 5; so it hurts as much as it helps on the Clips. Seems like that Clippers team just has so many parts that overlap and don't complement each other. CP3 and Blake can both run an offense and rack up assists. Well Cleveland could use Griffin's play making as Kyrie is better in more of a scoring guard role. Next year LeBron will likely need to rest even more during the regular season.
Didn't say they were cheap financially. But if they want to do a salary dump we might benefit. Of couse, things would have to get pretty screwed up there. And that's if we even to take on the salary. Hopefully free agency treats us well, though.
I understand that you wouldn't want to trade Blake for peanuts, but at the same time I just don't know how a 20 mil for 20 mil trade would really help them. Is Kevin Love really going to push that team to be as good as the Warriors or Spurs? I say no chance. Plus that would do absolutely nothing to help with your team salary. Kyrie for CP3 makes sense for both teams if any trade were to occur between them. It gives the Cavs a better PG right now and it gives the Clips a younger PG to build around. I still would say, sign a high quality backup PG to bolster your 2nd unit and let Blake play out his contract. You'd still make the playoffs next year and if things don't work out, you can let Blake and his 20 mil walk, clearing up the space to build around CP3 and DJ with the cap increase.
Love is locked up for 4 more years on a smaller contract so that's an advantage. He also didn't punch an employee; which made Balmer furious and consider trading him at the deadline. If their season ends in dissapointment this year trading Blake might be the breath of fresh air the team wants regardless if Love projects as an on court improvement.
I don't think the refs will let the Blazers win the series. But I do think the Blazers have a realistic chance of winning this series.
The problem with trading CP3 is DJ.(won't even mention Kyrie's History of winning.. w/o LBJ) (It's also not like Griffin or DJ were winning before CP3 arrived either..) Without CP3, DJ would become ineffective offensively.(outside of offensive rebounds) Kyrie isn't a passing PG, he can do it but lets be real. CP3 is a much better at making his teammates better compared to Kyrie... You can just look at it on the current Cavs roster. Kyrie doesn't make Love better, he doesn't make LeBron better.. I could go on... Kyrie is a scoring guard... Westbrick is a better passer than Kyrie. That says a lot.... If the Clips want to get younger sure but that means then trading at least DJ too.... Who they just gave a max deal to... Doesn't make a lot of sense for the Clippers to trade DJ right after that. Also if you're the Clippers and you trade CP3... You then need Griffin to make DJ/Kyrie better with his passing ability. Meaning you'd hurt yourself if you then let Griffin walk after his contract was up... Does Love make the Clippers as good as the Warriors? No. at least not in terms of depth. But he's a better piece to put next to CP3 than Griffin is. Much better. Plus he's under a long term deal just like DJ & CP3. Further opening their window.
http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/ellipses.html "Like the exclamation point, the ellipsis is at risk of overuse."
If you're going to critique someones posting specifically grammar or punctuation. Make sure yours is perfect.
Good point. If Paul really wants to go play with LeBron, then it would be win-win for the Clips. They get the younger talent and also save face by helping trade Paul.
